In one conventional storage arrangement, a computer system includes a hard drive. The computer system is able to detect elevated levels of shock that might present a threat of damage to the hard drive. In the event that such elevated levels of shock are detected, the computer system requests that the hard drive's read/write heads move to locations at which the risks of shock damage to the heads (or other internal components of hard drive) or data loss are reduced.
However, prior to issuing the request, one or more commands previously issued to the hard drive by the computer system may be in the midst of execution. In one conventional technique, after detecting the elevated levels of shock, the computer system waits until after all of these commands have been completely executed by the hard drive before requesting that the heads be moved to the reduced risk locations. Alternatively, in another conventional technique, after detecting the elevated levels of shock, the computer system issues a software reset command to the hard drive and thereafter issues the request that the heads be moved to the lower risk locations. In order to maximize the chance that hard drive damage and data loss are prevented after occurrence of the shock, it is desirable to move the heads to the reduced risk locations within a relatively short time period. Unfortunately, in these conventional techniques, the time needed to complete execution of all of the commands, or the time needed to reset the hard drive following the issuance of the hard drive software reset command, may be undesirably large. This may result in the heads not being moved within this relatively short time period, and thereby, also may result in the damage to the heads, other hard drive components, and/or data loss.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly.